It is estimated that North America has more pets than people. This equates to in excess of 250 million pets, a significant portion of which are dogs. As many of these animals are in urban areas, the public is demanding increasing animal regulations related to health and safety.
While pet owners residing in municipal regions are often subject to ordinances requiring that their animals be leashed at all times in public, many regions and municipalities have also adopted so-called “pooper-scooper” ordinances, which require pet owners to accept personal responsibility for collection and disposition of the waste material produced by their pet animals. This trend that started years ago in urban centers is now spreading to encompass the entire country.
When pet owners are subject to both leash-laws and pooper-scooper ordinances, the owner is obliged to retrieve and dispose of pet wastes when and where the animal decides to relieve itself This distasteful routine is familiar to all responsible dog owners and many bystanders.
Unfortunately, previous attempts at devising pooper-scoopers often resulted in large and awkwardly-configured devices that are inconvenient to carry and often soiled in use. In addition, some designs require the use of both hands, which is extremely difficult when holding a pet's leash. Other devices comprise a simple cup-shaped receptacle that is held in the hand during and after waste pick-up, often resulting in soiling of the user and exposing the user to the odor of the animal waste. Still other devices comprise a flexible and relatively unstable wire receptacle unit around which a bag is placed and fastened to a handle unit and within which waste is collected; disconnection of the waste bag from the handle and wire receptacle unit is often messy, resulting in soiling of the user by animal waste material on the bag.
Typical prior art in pooper-scoopers is shown, for example, in the following patents:
6,237,972May 2001Jung6,164,710December 2000Shibuya6,135,520October 2000Miller6,102,457August 2000Smith6,086,123July 2000Sowinski6,062,618May 2000Figueroa6,068,311May 2000Jones5,403,050April 1995Searing5,400,572March 1995Peck5,290,080March 1994Yoshioka5,370,431December 1994Henninger4,875,729October 1989Peck
As there do not appear to exist any totally sanitary, effective, lightweight, manageable and convenient animal waste collection devices at present, the simple animal waste collection device of choice by many animal owners comprises a paper or plastic bag within which a human hand is inserted to grasp and pick up the animal waste. Soiling of the user of this simple hand-in-bag device by the animal waste is not uncommon and the distasteful texture and odor of the animal waste results in an uncomfortable remainder of the outing with the animal.
The present invention is a sanitary, easily manageable, lightweight, simple and stable device that employs an elongated handle disposed at one end with a hooked grip and at the other end with a collection cylindrical member. The cylindrical member may be manufactured in various sizes to accommodate various sizes and amounts of animal waste. The cylinder may also be modified to employ a flat underside to facilitate collection of animal waste from flat surfaces. A quick forward movement of the cylindrical member ensures clean and complete pick up of animal waste material from all surfaces. The posterior underside of cylindrical member is cut out to permit the closed end of the inserted bag to hang down and to permit the open end of the receptacle bag, when rolled back inside-out around the exterior of the cylinder, to completely cover the remaining underside of the device to ensure no contact of animal waste material with the device itself or with the user. In addition, the receptacle bag is partially shielded from the user resulting in a more sanitary and pleasant waste storing operation when transporting the waste during a walk with the animal. The hooked grip on the opposing end of the handle further enhances the waste carrying task by permitting the device to be carried in a position that is naturally perpendicular to the ground, ensuring an ergonomically sound carrying procedure and, if necessary, allowing the device to be hooked on the forearm to free up both hands. The handle may be manufactured in various lengths to accommodate individual differences in height and arm length.
As described in the preceding paragraphs, a need still exists in the art for a waste pick-up device that is completely sanitary, simple, lightweight, manageable and cost-effective. Further, a need exists for an animal waste collection device that is not awkward to use, usually requires only one hand to operate, is environmentally friendly, and avoids the general distastefulness associated with gathering and disposing of pet waste or cleaning the device after use. Further, a need exists for an animal waste collection device that allows for re-cycling of a variety of receptacle bags that can be attached conveniently to the device. Further, a need exists for an animal collection device that employs a comfortable grip that permits firm grasping of the device when picking up animal waste and allows the receptacle end of the device to naturally hang down to keep from the user's view that distasteful animal waste material. Further, the hooked grip can be mounted on the forearm when the device is not in use to free up both hands.